What do you think should be done about food poverty?

Can I say it any more clearly. I hate everything about illegal drugs. I have never bought or used them in my life. I TRY to understand why people feel a need to use them.

It won't touch my family. Not while I live and breathe. And I am pretty sure that it won't after I'm gone. I am indeed fortunate. My grandchildren have very good parents.

nightowl, like you, I do try to understand why people take illegal drugs. Some people take what they believe are 'legal highs'. Doing this led to my son's friend's wife dying, leaving a small baby.
I've never judged people for taking drugs. Maybe I've been lucky enough to see what this can do to people. I say 'lucky' because it has allowed me not to judge them, just to hate with a passion the dealers who sell them .

jingle, god -(or whatever)- knows we all might feel as you do. So do many of the mothers and grandmothers whose poor DC's and DGC's resort to drug-taking. Not many go out and score heroin straight away. At our local school, first-year pupils were found to have bought cannabis from a dealer at the school gates. I would imagine that they may have had good parents and grandparents too.

Sometimes jingl you can be incredibly offensive. Drugs may or may not ever touch your family, but you can actually have no idea whether they will or not. Wishing won't make it so.

I've been 'lucky' that way too Marelli

A good few of the kids at the secondary school where my daughter teaches, smoke weed. They have comfortably off and un-interested parents. Not saying that is always the case.

I do not want to discuss personal experiences of any posters really.

I have to disagree. I'm really sorry if you find that offensive. I just know my children.

None of us really know our children; we're kidding ourselves if we think we are .

Ah-ah! Don't agree.

"a good few of the kids at the secondary school where my daughter teaches, smoke weed. They have comfortably off and un-interested parents. Not saying that is always the case". What are you saying then ? Your comment struck me as very judgemental and rather self satisfied.

Weed is so commonly used amongst teenagers, as is alcohol. Not saying that's right, or a good thing, it is simply a fact. The case in the news this week of the much loved 16 yr old boy, who kissed his mum, went off to a party/rave, took ecstasy and promptly died should be a lesson to us all. It's to easy to rush to judgement, criticise parents, but these things can happen to any of us, at any time. We should count our blessings, and judge a little less.

If any of our generation think they can be absolutely certain that their children, in their youth, didn't experiment with drugs, there's a very good chance that they are deluded.

In my line of work, we had training about substance abuse. The person who delivered the training, said that by the time an adult had reached their 40's there was a very good chance that they may have dabbled in some form of drug-taking.

I was saying just what I said I am64. The parents are comfortably off and the kids lack for nothing materially. But the parents are not inclined to put effort into their parenting.

My children and grandchildren are the only things I am self-satisfied about.

That person was talking cobblers Marelli.

It's the pantomime season - I'll join in. Oh no they weren't talking cobblers Marelli. The were talking from a non judgemental, informed position.

How do you know that when?

Do you really think so, jingle? Well, there you go.....25 years of working in the care profession down the drain. I really do wish I'd asked your advice before I embarked on it.

Shoot! Not when! Iam!

Yep! You definitely should have done.

I see a lot of people who say that they were abused in childhood and that triggered their addiction. It numbed the emotional pain. I also see addicts from what have been obviously loving and caring homes. It seems to depend on whether or not you have an addictive type personality. Like sexuality this is something you are born with, not acquire.

Perhaps food banks should interview all their clients about their parenting skills and the clients' parents about their grandparenting skills and make them take drugs' tests. The children and grandchildren of those whose skills are inadequate or who take drugs, including, of course, legal non-prescription drugs, can then righteously be left to starve.

I'm confident in what I say about training given by specialists on drug use jing. Agencies involved with drug users need to have their staff given research based training.

Galen No one is born with an addiction to heroin (well, except the poor little babies of addict mothers). Addictive personality, yes. But no one really makes them take that first hit.

Sorry to disillusion you, Jingle................I have seen the results of children being indoctrinated into drug use who had no clue what they were being given, and numerous girls trafficked into prostitution, drugged by pimps and traffickers against their will.

Are you enjoying yourself jingl? I'm not sure there's any point in any of us continuing with this really. A little humility goes a very long way in this life.

Galen, I think you have put your finger on the reasons many, many people turn to drugs. Abuse in childhood is so often a trigger and I hate to tell you this jingl but even children from loving homes can be abused in childhood. And an addictive personality plays a very big part in how people go on to deal with it.